As an example of an optical connector having a ferrule housed retractably in a housing, for example, an MPO connector disclosed in Non-Patent Literature 1 is known. With this optical connector, a ferrule is pressed to a front side (a side of the optical connector to the other side) with an elastic member, and the protrusion of the housing and the brim part (flange part) of the ferrule come into contact to prevent the ferrule from falling out forward. When the optical connector connects with an optical connector to the other side (hereafter, when a connector is connected), end-faces of the ferrules are butted against each other, and the ferrule retracts into the housing at this time.